iLiftCLEAN education contributes to culture change at 2019 IWF World Championships

Hungary, October 2, 2019: The IWF maintained its emphasis on educating athletes about Anti doping, and in particular their rights and responsibilities, with a range of activities linked to the # iLiftCLEAN education contributes campaign.

Now a mainstay of the activities for athletes and their entourages at the IWF World Championships, #iLiftCLEAN in Pattaya included both a booth made in the framework of the WADA legacy outreach programme, to engage with the educational materials and also dedicated workshops.

Past successes have already seen elements of #iLiftCLEAN held up as an exemplary programme for other sports to follow:

quite literally held up in the case of the #iLiftCLEAN barbell, which has also become a feature of WADA’s annual Anti-Doping Symposium in Lausanne and its outreach activities at major multi-sport competitions like the Lima 2019 Pan American, the Parapan American Games and the European Games in Minsk.

Visitors to the # iLiftCLEAN education contributes booth have invited to complete the WADA quiz, in order to win their iLiftCLEAN t-shirts and other promotional gifts bearing the campaign’s clean sport branding.

And athletes have encouraged to go further, completing the #iLiftCLEAN comprehensive e-learning course developed in partnership with USA Weightlifting and the US Anti-Doping Agency.

Two seminars for athletes and their entourages, meanwhile, provided opportunities to learn in-depth from world-leading experts.

The seminars attended by a high number of athlete support personnel, the IWF pays great attention to educate coaches and team doctors as well.

The risk of inadvertent positives through contaminated supplements directly addressed in the first workshop, which looked at diet.

Athletes’ responsibilities covered, with the importance of checking ingredients against the WADA Prohibited Substances list and carefully consulting medical personnel with regard to prescribed medicines among the subjects of discussion.

The experts leading the seminars included Dr Kyle Pierceformer IOC Medical Director Dr. Patrick Schamasch and from the International Testing Agency, Education Manager Olya Abasolo.

On completion of the second seminar, three athletes drawn at random to receive prizes – including barbells and a PlayStation4 – kindly offered by IWF Partners DHS Barbell, Uesaka Barbells and Eleiko.

Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) President Stephan Fox has visited the iLiftClean booth.

Visiting the #iLiftCLEAN booth, IWF President Tamas Ajan said:

“The IWF has much to be proud of in the way we have worked to ensure that weightlifting is a clean sport, that respects and protects clean athletes.

And we have seen the results of that work here in Pattaya with more countries than ever before bringing men and women athletes and enjoying hard-earned success.

We knew that culture change would also be a long-term effort and that attitudes would need to change.

Education has been a very important way in which we have shown we can deliver that change.” —- IWF